The correct approach to the organization of wastewater discharge from a bath involves compliance with building codes during operation. We offer you a description of the designs of popular drainage systems that can be made by hand. Content:
- Floor arrangement
- Sewerage outside the bath
- Draining water into the ground
- Drainage sewerage
- Filtration well
- Drain pit
- Use of septic tanks
- Water seal
There are many options for the drainage of used water from the bathhouse, which practically do not require financial investments and connection to the central sewerage system. A carefully thought-out drain in the bath will ensure the durability of floors and foundations, and prevent the appearance of fungus on the walls.
Recommendations for arranging a floor with a drain for a bath
The creation of a drainage system inside the bath begins at the stage of making the floors. Water will quickly leave the room if the floor is built according to the recommendations:
- To drain liquid from the room, install a drain pipe in the floor of the bath (usually in a washing room).
- Cover the drain hole with a net to prevent large objects from entering.
- Make the floor with a slight slope towards the drain flange.
- If the floor is concrete, check that there are no gaps or unevenness where water can trap.
- Concrete the gutters into the floor near the wall so that water quickly flows to the drain. For the manufacture of gutters, use concrete, asbestos, ceramic, and polypropylene pipes. Products do not have to be particularly durable, because dirty water is not aggressive, and the temperature is less than 60 degrees.
- In a bathhouse with several "wet" rooms, make a riser to which you supply water from all rooms. Usually it is mounted in a corner and secured with clamps.
- The internal sewerage system is laid before the floors are laid, with a slope so that water flows to the drain by gravity. Cover the floor with matte tiles if desired.
- Provide ventilation of the risers; for this, pull the device pipe up through the roof and lock in this position.
- Collect drains from bathrooms according to the traditional scheme using sewer elements - a siphon, a water seal.
- Install drains with closures in showers - ladders.
Sewer system outside the bath
The choice of drainage method is influenced by the following factors:
- Soil composition.
- The relief of the site.
- The amount of water to be discharged.
- Floor covering option.
- The number of rooms from which moisture is removed, their sizes.
In addition, you should take into account the danger of contamination of the site with dirty water from the bath. A large amount of fat, suspended particles, detergents can contaminate the area around the bath, an unpleasant odor will be felt in the room and an uncomfortable atmosphere will be created. Consumers can choose one of two ways to get rid of dirty water - draining sewage into the ground next to the bathhouse or collecting it in an airtight container and taking it out of the site.
Draining water into the ground under the bath
The simplest drainage option is to drain water into the ground under the building. Usually, this is how they get rid of water in the summer. Even when building the foundation under the sink, dig a shallow hole and fill it with a sand and gravel mixture. When building the floor, run the drain pipe straight there. In this case, the drain pipes are not installed. After washing the room, the baths should be thoroughly dried.
There are restrictions for such a drainage of water:
- For structures erected on a strip foundation, this method poses a certain danger. The strip foundation is built using a concrete mixture that absorbs moisture well. A small amount of wastewater next to it will not affect the structure of the concrete, but intensive use of the bath can affect the strength of the foundation. Therefore, the water is drained under the bath, if the number of washable is not more than three.
- If the surface of the site is embossed, water can erode the soil over time and weaken the foundation.
- There should be no clay or other soil under the bath that does not absorb water well, otherwise it will be constantly wet under the floor.
Sewerage drainage type for a bath
This method of drainage is used on soils that are well permeable to liquids, and in the case when the groundwater is deep.
Perform the work in the following order:
- At a distance of 1–1.5 m from the foundation, dig a hole 50 cm deeper than the freezing level. The minimum diameter of the hole is 1 m (for a small number of washable people).
- Fill the bottom with crushed stone or expanded clay.
- Make sure that the soil is solid and that the pit walls are not crumbling. If the soil is loose, lower an iron or plastic barrel into the pit, having previously cut out the bottom. You can also put some car tires in the pit.
- Dig a trench between the well and the bathhouse with a slope from the bathhouse and lay the sewer pipes. Connect one side of the product to the drain pipe of the sink, and take the other into the pit.
- Cover the pit with a lid.
- Fill the well with soil and compact.
This option is useful for those who are interested in how to drain in a bath with minimal costs.
Using a filtration well for draining in a bath
There are few microorganisms in wastewater that cause a fermentation reaction, it is easier to clean. Therefore, wastewater can be collected in special wells for self-cleaning. A well is being built no closer than 3-5 m from the wall of the bathhouse. Find out in advance the depth of soil freezing.
Perform the following operations:
- Dig a hole 50 cm deeper than the freezing point. Set the horizontal dimensions at your discretion, usually the dimensions are determined by the diameter of the concrete pipe, which is installed in the pit to protect it from crumbling soil.
- Install the concrete pipe in the well. Instead of a pipe, you can build a formwork and make concrete walls.
- At the bottom of the well, pour a layer of expanded clay or crushed stone mixed with sand in a layer of at least 30 cm. The filtration layer should be 15 cm above the maximum freezing level of the soil.
- Dig a trench from the bathhouse to the well with a slope towards the pit.
- Lay the sewer pipe in the trench. Connect one side of the pipe to the drain pipe of the bath, and take the other into the well. In the trench, the pipe should be located with a slight slope, which depends on its diameter, the standard slope is 2 cm / m. The recommended pipe depth is 60–70 cm below the freezing level. However, the exact adherence to the latter requirement sometimes requires the manufacture of a deep well, therefore an alternative option is proposed - to protect the pipes from freezing, insulate them in any way.
To facilitate the selection of pipelines, manufacturers paint indoor sewer pipes gray, outdoor ones orange. When laying pipes in a trench, observe the following requirements:
- The pipe must be straight to avoid clogging.
- Pipe diameter - at least 50 mm.
- Buy special sewer pipes. Traditional concrete or ceramic products have worked well, and PVC pipes can also be used. It is not recommended to install metal ones, they rust.
- Cover the pipe joints with concrete.
- Cover the well with a lid.
- Make and install an air tube that protrudes 400 mm above the ground.
This system has a drawback - soapy water can clog the soil, cleaning is required.
Drainage of water from the bath into a sealed drain pit
According to the requirements of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service, sewage drains cannot be poured into the ground without cleaning. However, there is a norm that allows you to make a floor in a bath with a drain, without violating the ecology - with a volume of effluent less than 1 cubic meter. m. per day. After all, who measures these drains. Instead of a drain pit without a bottom, it is required to make an airtight pit if there are such reasons: the distance between the pit and the bath is less than 5 m, from the pit to the fence - less than 2 m, if it is impossible to build a pit deeper than the water intake level.
Choose a place for a drain pit, taking into account the following points:
- It is being built at the lowest point of the site so that water flows by gravity.
- The drain pit must be periodically emptied of the contents, for which they order a sewer with a car. Therefore, provide access to the device, and make a hole in the lid for installing the hose.
- Cleaning the drain pit requires additional costs.
- If the groundwater is close to the surface, use a plastic container as a reservoir.
A sealed drain pit can be made by hand in the following sequence:
- Dig a pit 2–2.5 m deep and the same dimensions in the horizontal plane.
- Dig a trench from bath to hole following the requirements in the previous sections.
- Pour crushed stone into the bottom of the pit in a layer of 10-15 cm, compact it. Fill the bottom with concrete with a layer of at least 7 cm.
- After the concrete has set, make the formwork to form the walls of the well. Leave a hole in the formwork for the sewer pipe.
- Pour concrete into the formwork.
- After the concrete has set, waterproof the inner surface of the well with liquid bitumen.
- Install the sewer pipe into the trench. Lower one end into the well through the hole left, and connect the other to the drain pipe in the bath.
- Backfill the trench and the area around the well with soil and compact it.
- Cover the well with a lid. Install the ventilation pipe into the well cover. It should protrude 400–700 mm above the soil.
The use of septic tanks for effluent from the bath
The sewer system must be cleaned periodically. The most practical cleaning method is septic, which does not require the use of sewer trucks. Usually this method is used with frequent use of the bathhouse, when large companies wash, or if there is a bathroom in the room. A large amount of sewage can quickly pollute the area near the building.
The septic method of water purification consists in sequential purification of effluents in different ways. At the first stage, the water is freed from coarse impurities, at the next stage it undergoes filtration and biological treatment. The water after septic tanks does not contain soap and other impurities, is odorless, and is often used for irrigation. Factory septic tanks are expensive, and users often make their own devices. For self-production of a septic tank, you will need concrete rings with a diameter of 1 meter.
A septic tank is made as follows:
- At a distance of at least 1.5 m from the wall of the bath, dig a hole 2–2.5 m deep, but you can go deeper.
- Pour a layer of sand (150 mm), crushed stone (100 mm) on the bottom and tamp everything.
- Lower the concrete rings into the hole.
- Dig another shallow well nearby.
- Pour sand, rubble on the bottom of the well and compact them.
- Lower the ring to the bottom.
- Concrete the bottom of the deep well and the gaps between the rings - the well must be airtight.
- In the upper part of the rings of both wells, make holes and connect the rings with pipes, which should be located with a slope of 2 cm / m towards the deep hole. Seal the joints with cement.
- Lead the sewer pipe from the bathhouse to a shallow well.
The first container is designed to settle coarse particles that will fall to the bottom some time after settling. After filling the first well, water will begin to overflow into the second through the connecting pipe. In the second tank, soil bacteria will process all organic matter in the water. Over time, the number of bacteria decreases, they have to be bought in the store and added to the water with their own hands. The purified water can be used for irrigation.
Do-it-yourself water seal for a bath
To prevent cold air and unpleasant sewer odors from entering the bath in winter, the drain device in the bath is equipped with a water seal. It can be made from available tools and installed in a drain pit in the following sequence:
- Replace the handle on the plastic bucket with a metal one that can be made from galvanized iron.
- Place a metal pipe across the drain hole.
- Slide the bucket over the pipe.
- At the end of the sewer pipe, fix a piece of corrugated pipe, which is lowered into a bucket. Place the corrugation cut in the middle of the bucket - at a distance of 10 cm from the bottom and 10 cm from the upper cut. Water will flow into the bucket and overflow. The liquid remaining in the bucket will prevent air from entering the bath.
If the garden area near the bath is not planted, you can build a drainage system along which water will move from the septic tank in the right direction. To do this, dig trenches radially from the device to a depth exceeding the freezing depth of the soil. Lay pipes in the trenches with a slope from the septic tank, make holes in them, connect to the well. Purified water from the well will spill out on its own in all directions, moistening the soil. For more information about the drain in the bath, see the video:
Fulfillment of simple requirements will allow you to create an effective drainage system. The festive mood with which visitors come to the bath is largely supported by the quality of the sewerage system.
